Bat For Lashes Asks Thom Yorke For Advice About Death

“I phoned up Thom Yorke and was like—what do you do when you feel like you’re going to die?” Bat for Lashes aka Natasha Khan is referring to the paralyzing writer’s block she encountered during the 3 years it took her to complete The Haunted Man.

“I felt like I was never going to be able to write a song again,” Khan admitted in an interview with VICE’s music channel Noisey. Yorke suggested drawing, and apparently it worked brilliantly.

Khan also discusses the gorgeously evocative cover art for Haunted Man done by photographer Ryan Mcginley. After encountering McGinley’s series “Animals,” she knew he’d be able to create an image that could portray both strength and vulnerability, that could give a sense of both rescue and burden.

Watch the full interview to see Khan discuss Virginia Woolf running naked in a garden, the magic of the British landscape, and her desire to haunt River Phoenix.